Tag: Research In Motion

Report : Blackberry Set To Follow Dell And Go Private

The latest rumour to circle about BlackBerry is not a new smartphone, but that the company is entertaining the idea of going private. Reuters “several sources familiar with the situation” revealed that the board is favouring this route and believe being a private company “would give them breathing room to fix its problems out of the public eye.” The company noted in the report is private equity firm Silver Lake Partners, same company who’s behind Dell’s current private dealings, but they make it clear that “no deal is imminent” and “BlackBerry has not launched any kind of a sale process.”

The message from BlackBerry’s communications department has been pretty consistent regarding its recent quarterly performance, as well as issues like layoffs and executive departures – the company is still in turnaround mode, and needs to make more changes to get the organization ship-shape before it can return to growth. But that’s not a refrain that investors enjoy hearing – especially not when the track’s on repeat.

Ever since Thorsten Heins, BlackBerry’s CEO, took over the reins he stated that the company was not for sale, but could potentially look at licensing BlackBerry 10 to other manufactures. In an interview last year Heins stated “We don’t have the economy of scale to compete against the guys who crank out 60 handsets a year. We have to differentiate and have a focused platform. To deliver BB10 we may need to look at licensing it to someone who can do this at a way better cost proposition than I can do it. There’s different options we could do that we’re currently investigating.”

BlackBerry’s openness to consider a deal marks a radical shift in thinking at the once high-flying smartphone maker. Until recently, BlackBerry, formerly known as Research in Motion and a pioneer in providing secured emails on handheld devices, had been bent on staying independent, betting its turnaround on its latest smartphones.

BlackBerry reported 6.8 million smartphone shipments last quarter and revenues of $3.1 billion, but also recorded an operating loss of $84 million.

[Via]

August 9, 2013
Lenovo Interested In Buying RIM’s Hardware Division

RIM is about to release its latest BlackBerry 10 platform by next week. But even with this new development, the Canadian company is not off the hook when it comes to its market predicament. BlackBerry is a platform on the decline, and apart from BB10, RIM is thinking of ways to revitalize its business. Among the possibilities is licensing is operating system or even selling off its hardware division.

Lenovo is reportedly mulling over a purchase of RIM’s traditionally-unprofitable hardware division as it determines how best to move into the international smartphone and tablet market.

Lenovo is the world’s number two PC manufacturer, and although sales have been strong over the last few quarters, rocketing past Dell in market share, desktop and laptop sales are slowing in the wake of smartphones and tablet proliferation. Lenovo rose to be the number two smartphone maker in China in 2012, but it has a lot of work to do if it ever wants to be an international player.

Analysts speculate that even if BlackBerry 10 proves a success for the company — which, if early indications are a bellwether, it likely will — RIM may choose to sell its hardware business anyway, focusing on its network and software assets. A partnership with a company like Lenovo or even Samsung, which was also rumoured to be interested in acquiring RIM at one point, could push the Waterloo-based outfit back into the black.

On related news, RIM’s shares rose with the reports of Lenovo’s interest. The Toronto Stock Exchange-listed shares rose 3%. Still analysts say RIM is likely to wait until it launches BlackBerry 10 before seriously considering partnerships or asset sales.

[Mobile Syrup]

January 25, 2013
High Resolution Images Of BlackBerry X10 Smartphone Surface

Earlier we posted about some new BB10 photos of the Z10 which is the touch screen only BlackBerry due to be announced next month.

BlackBerry are known for their keyboards though and a BB10 handset is also in the making we believe to be called the X10. Some photos were posted recently of the said device but now there are even more photos with the X10 switched on to give you a better idea of what to expect.

The pictures clearly show the X10’s relatively tiny (in today’s world of 4″ and 5″ displays) display and QWERTY keyboard that extends from edge-to-edge.

The back of the phone also shows the camera lens and flash. Given that this is likely a prototype unit, we can excuse the rather cheap looking finish of this X10 pictured. Hopefully the production models will have better graining than what’s currently shown.

BB10 launches on 30 January — so a month to the day exactly. Many people think it’ll be make or break time for RIM, after its recent troubles. There was a rumour a while ago that RIM would have to split the company in half and sell off its networking business, or join forces with Microsoft. BB10 has already been delayed twice, so let’s hope 30 January is indeed the day it launches.

[N4BB]

December 31, 2012
RIM’s New CEO plans massive comeback for Blackberry with new UI and feature rich Ecosystem

Research In Motion CEO Thorsten Heins is promising to restore the BlackBerry phone’s stature as a trailblazing device even as many investors fret about its potential demise. Heins took the stage Tuesday at a conference for mobile applications developers to rally support for the upcoming release of BlackBerry 10, a new operating system that Research In Motion Ltd. is touting as its salvation after years of blundering wiped out some $80 billion in shareholder wealth.

Blackberry held almost 50% of the market share prior to the Android and iPhone era. With new UI that is more user centric blackberry plans to make a comeback not only in the consumer segment, but its primary source the business/enterprise segment.

RIM is also planning Native apps for Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and LinkedIN, which are quite identical to their iOS/Android counterparts.

In addition to sharing new details about its forthcoming BlackBerry 10 OS, RIM used the BlackBerry Jam keynote to make an announcement about App World. The company just revealed that in addition to applications and games, the store will sell music, movies and TV shows. There are currently 105,000 apps in the store, with 3 billion downloads logged since the store’s opening.

RIM says, BB 10 applications will join the herd soon: the company will begin accepting submissions on October 10th.

September 26, 2012
10 inch Blackberry playbook found in Vietnam

With RIM ready to push focus on BB10 devices coming next year, more news and leaks of Blackberry Playbook 10 inch could indicate only a possible launch soon. Specs include a 7,250 mAh battery, 10-inch frame, the tablet also includes a SIM holder and cellular radio, possible 4G or 3G (HSPA+) radio waves.

No actual information on hardware on the inside or outside. But there appear to be bigger cameras and a beefier processor.

[Tinhte]

July 31, 2012
RIM hit with $147.2 million verdict in wireless patent lawsuit

Research in Motion Ltd has been directed by a northern California jury directed to pay $147.2 million in patent litigation over a remote management system for wireless devices.

Mformation, a maker of mobile-device management software, sued RIM in 2008, alleging infringement of two patents. The company claimed it disclosed details of the technology to RIM during licensing discussions. After refusing to take a license, the BlackBerry maker modified its software to include the patented systems, Mformation said in its complaint.

Amar Thakur, an attorney for Mformation, said the jury directed RIM to pay an $8 royalty for every BlackBerry device connected to RIM’s enterprise server software, which brings the total award to $147.2 million. The verdict only covers U.S. sales through trial, Thakur said, and not future or foreign damages.

RIM’s stock has tumbled more than 70 percent in the past year as its customers abandoned the BlackBerry following the increasing popularity of its rivals Apple’s iPhone and other devices using Google Inc’s Android software. RIM last month posted its first and unexpected operating loss in eight years.

July 14, 2012
RIM’s Blackberry App World marks 3 billion App Downloads

Everything may seem horribly wrong at Rim but all is not lost , when the company shows up with good numbers in at least one sector. The Blackberry App World just registered 3 billion app downloads it’s seen since the launch. According to RIM, that number amounts to 2.5 million downloads a day. At present, there are 90,000 apps available through the mobile app market.

[Inside BlackBerry]

July 9, 2012
RIM set to save US $ 1 Billion, will Lay Of 6000 + employees

The Waterloo Record reports that RIM is all set to lay off unto or more than 6000 of its staff in an effort to save US $ 1 Billion in expenses, as a part of their cost cutting drive. It’s believed that between 2,000 and 6,000 employees could be let go as the troubled company attempts to save $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year.

According to reports the manufacturing team has been hit the hardest with hundreds of people already been laid of in the past 24 hours.

[The Waterloo Record]

June 21, 2012
Developer teases iOS apps running on BlackBerry PlayBook

A developer working on the Playbook has been able to run iOS apps on the BlackBerry PlayBook. The developer likens his project to WINE, which doesn’t do hardware emulation, but rather relies on a custom set of APIs to make the apps boot and run on the Playbook. The dependency of the said port is only possible properly if the app does not rely on Apple’s UIWebView or CoreData frameworks. businesscat2000 the developer, has yet to make the software publicly available, although he’s expressed a bit of interest. It remains to be seen whether this project will ever see the light of day.

check out the demo videos posted by him below.

June 14, 2012
RIM ready to cut more jobs, 2000 employees’ jobs loom in the future, as Blackberry suffers downfall

Another sad day for Blackberry lovers, The company behind Blackberry does not seem to be getting a break. After selling assets and cutting several jobs, switching CEO’s and gameplay strategies, the company is yet again set to cut upto 2000 jobs in the coming weeks as bad news continues.

The announcement is reportedly said to happen on or before 1st June. 2000 job cuts may seem like a large number, but several other reports including Reuters are pointing at upto 6000 job cuts for the company dealing with massive market loss.

RIM or anyone from the company refuses to comment on the issue at hand. But, we will know sooner than later.

May 28, 2012
Gameloft will bring 11 titles to the Blackberry 10 OS at the time of Launch

RIM announced a partnership with Gameloft that will see the developer offer a number of mobile titles by the time the new platform launches later this year. Shark Dash, Ice Age Village, Oregon Trail and, of course, N.O.V.A 3: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance will be all available among others, and their prices will range from free – US $ 6.99.

We are thrilled to be able to bring some of our most popular titles to the BlackBerry 10 platform,BlackBerry 10 customers can look forward to enjoying a slew of high-quality games of all genres , including the tremendously successful Shark Dash and Ice Age Village, with an improved gaming experience all around.”

– Ludovic Blondel, Vice President of OEM at Gameloft.

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GAMELOFT ANNOUNCES LINEUP OF 11 GAMES FOR BLACKBERRY 10

San Francisco, CA – May 1, 2012 – – Gameloft, a leading global publisher of digital and social games, is announcing a lineup of 11 games coming to the BlackBerry® 10 platform. The games are being optimized for the new platform using the BlackBerry® 10 Native SDK (software development kit), and include Shark Dash, N.O.V.A. 3: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, Ice Age Village and Oregon Trail: American Settler, to name a few.

“We are thrilled to be able to bring some of our most popular titles to the BlackBerry 10 platform,” said Ludovic Blondel, Vice President of OEM at Gameloft. “BlackBerry 10 customers can look forward to enjoying a slew of high-quality games of all genres , including the tremendously successful Shark Dash and Ice Age Village, with an improved gaming experience all around.”

“The BlackBerry 10 platform allows game developers to deliver a high performance mobile gaming experience for customers,” said Martyn Mallick, Vice President Global Alliances & Business Development at RIM. “We have a long and productive relationship with Gameloft and we are pleased to work with them to bring a number of their most popular games to BlackBerry 10 customers at launch.”

The games are designed to take advantage of key BlackBerry 10 features including the Scoreloop social gaming tools and multiplayer functions, and will range from freemium to $6.99 per app. Shark Dash, N.O.V.A. 3: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance, Ice Age Village and Oregon Trail: American Settler will be available on BlackBerry App World™ at launch, with more games to follow.

For more information, please visit Gameloft’s website at www.gameloft.com

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May 3, 2012
First Blackberry 10 device leaks, points to London

Oh my dear berry addicts, looks like the world is abuzz with Blackberry news once again. The bitter sweet fruit that has seen a major downfall in the recent years is finally trying to put its pieces together. New prototypes have surfaced for the upcoming Blackberry 10 phone lineup, which the company is supposedly launching this year.

Research in Motion is hosting the BlackBerry Jam event in a few short days where they plan on giving out a few prototypes of the handset running this OS to developers for testing apps and whatnot.

According to various sources this particular unit is only meant for development and is a open version of what may finally become Blackberry london. Some reports also point towards the origins being Blackberry Colt, however that seems highly unlikely.

Either way most analysts are pegging Blackberry’s return time to at least 5 years, we will have to see if these devices help bring it back up.

April 30, 2012
Dolphin Browser arrives in BlackBerry App World

Dolphin Browser is one of the most popular mobile browsers on iOS and on Android, and now its available with dev permissions on the Blackberry App World. Now you can finally replace the controversial Blackberry browser.

Currently only supported on the Playbook, and an older version of 7.2 vs the 7.5 available on Android, You can hit the App world on your tab to download it today.

[BlackBerry App World]

March 16, 2012
Blackberry Playbook gets the 2.0 Update finally : hands on soon

So the Blackberry Playbook has finally started getting 2.0 update for its OS. Check for updates via Settings on your tablet and you should see it. The update includes improvements like native email, calendar and contacts, integration with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, new Bridge functions, and access to the Android apps in BB App World.

We will soon have a hands on video, stay tuned.

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BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 Available Today

New OS delivers an enriched user experience for BlackBerry PlayBook tablet users

Waterloo, ON – Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ: RIMM; TSX: RIM) announced that the new BlackBerry® PlayBook™ OS 2.0 will be released for download today. BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 delivers an enhanced tablet experience and allows you to use the BlackBerry PlayBook in new ways throughout the day – at work and at play. “Building on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s proven web browsing, multimedia and multitasking strengths, the new BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 introduces a range of new communications and productivity enhancements as well as expanded app and content support,” said David J. Smith, SVP Mobile Computing, Research In Motion.

New BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 features include:

• Integrated email client with a powerful unified inbox: With BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 you have the option to use a unified inbox that consolidates all messages in one place, including messages from Facebook®, LinkedIn® and Twitter®, as well as personal and work email accounts.

• Social Integration with Calendar and Contacts apps: The built-in calendar harnesses information from social networks and makes it available where and when users need it. Contact cards are also dynamically populated with updated information from Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to create a consolidated view of contacts.

• Updated BlackBerry Bridge app: BlackBerry® Bridge™ is a unique app that provides a Bluetooth® connection between your BlackBerry PlayBook and core apps on your BlackBerry® smartphone (including BBM™, Email, Contacts, Calendar and Browser) in order to let you view the content on the larger tablet display. With BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, it’s easier and quicker than ever to take documents, web pages, emails and photos that appear on your BlackBerry smartphone and display them on your BlackBerry PlayBook for an optimized viewing and editing experience. The updated BlackBerry Bridge app also provides a new remote control feature that allows a BlackBerry smartphone to be used as a wireless keyboard and mouse for a BlackBerry PlayBook.

• Improved mobile productivity: Updated document editing functions, the new Print To Go app, and increased control and manageability of corporate data with BlackBerry® Balance ™ allow you to get more out of your BlackBerry PlayBook every day. Plus, an updated virtual keyboard with auto correction and predictive next word completion learns how you type to enable faster, more accurate typing.

• New apps and content: Thousands of new apps are being added to BlackBerry App World™ today (including a range of Android® apps that will run on the BlackBerry PlayBook). A new BlackBerry Video Store1 is launching today. Enhanced web browsing capabilities are also available with BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0.

In conjunction with the release of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0, RIM is making available an initial release of BlackBerry® Mobile Fusion that will include support for managing BlackBerry PlayBook tablets and BlackBerry smartphones2 in an enterprise. The full release of BlackBerry Mobile Fusion (with mobile device management capabilities for iOS and Android devices) is planned for general availability in late March 2012. For more information about BlackBerry Mobile Fusion, please visit www.blackberry.com/mobilefusion. Availability The BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 software update is now available as a free download for all BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.

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February 22, 2012
Blackberry 10 Phones won’t come until end 2012

Unfortunate news for those who were hoping that Blackberry would step up to its game. The company’s new plans reveal that they will not be bringing the new Blackberry 10 phones until the end of 2012. Blackberry 10 formerly known as BBX is a new OS by the company that will dramatically change the user experience and add Android application integration.

RIM CEO in a earnings call said that due to a critical chipset that’s not expected to be available in production quantity until mid-next year, BlackBerry 10 devices will emerge late in 2012.

Boo-Hoo RIM we were literally hoping for some real effort to revive the strength Blackberry had few years ago.

[RIM investor call]

December 16, 2011